found at Makariwa, near Invercargill, New Zealand. 55 



sliced in different ways, and the microscopic examination of these 

 convinced me at once of the meteoric character of the stone. After 

 this, I made every endeavour, by correspondence and ultimately 

 travelling to Invercargill, to ascertain the exact locality where and 

 under what circumstances the stone was found, and to obtain more 

 of it if possible ; for the surface outlines of the remaining fragments 

 clearly indicated that it must originally have been of considerable 

 size. The results of my investigations in these directions are the 

 following : — In the year 1879, at the completion of the connexion of 

 the railway line Invercargill — Winton and the branch line Makariwa 

 — Riverton, two workmen, the brothers Arch, and I. Marshall, while 

 engaged in removing a clay bank at Makariwa Junction, found in the 

 clay, about 2-| feet from the surface, a roundish stone, which at once 

 attracted their attention, on account of its weight and because of the 

 fact that in the clay- covered plain surrounding Makariwa Junction 

 stones of any kind are a great rarity. They broke the stone with the 

 pick and, finding the inside of different aspect from the outside, 

 took the fragments home, and, experimenting with them, discovered 

 that they affected the magnetic needle. With the intention of having 

 the stone some day further examined, the pieces were kept as curio- 

 sities; but, being unsightly, they were kicked from one corner of the 

 room into the other, and specimens were also occasionally knocked off 

 for friends interested in the find. Mr. Arch. Marshall, who gave me 

 these particulars, told me, on further inquiry, that the stone, when 

 originally found, had a knobby, roundish shape, was of the size of a 

 large man's fist, or perhaps a little larger, and might have weighed 

 between 4 and 5 lbs. The exact place of the find was about half way 

 between the railway station on the Winton line and the station master's 

 house, some 20 feeo from the line of rails. A search by Mr. Marshall 

 for another piece of the stone which he thought was still somewhere 

 about the premises at the time he gave the one to Mr. Fenton proved, 

 unfortunately, unsuccessful, and the only secured remnants of this 

 meteorite are the two pieces sent with this paper and another small 

 piece divided between the Dunedin and Wellington Museums. 



Macroscopic Character of the Stone. 

 All the fragments show portions of a yellowish-brown, rather soft, 

 and earthy decomposition-crust, from 2 to 3 ram. in thickness, which 

 evidently enveloped the entire stone when found. The undecomposed 

 rock beneath this crust is very finely granular, rather hard and firm, 

 and in fresh fracture dark greenish-grey, finely-mottled, light brown, 

 and most nearly resembles fine-grained picrite in appearance ; it 

 slightly darkens, however, on exposure to the air, and shows on old 

 fracture planes a dark brown, ferruginous glaze. Even under a strong 



